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Suburban Life Sound Off: Jan. 22-28

By SUBURBAN LIFE MEDIA

Feb. 2, 2018

Beverage tax?

I read that Downers Grove now has a beverage tax. I went to Burger King with a breakfast coupon that included two cups of coffee. I paid 5 cents more than I used to. A few days later, I went to White Castle. I purchased burgers and fries, no beverages of any kind. I was charged the beverage tax. So does that mean Downers Grove has a beverage tax or a tax increase across the board?

There's a time and place for street-sweeping restrictions

In the town of Cicero, they have street-sweeping restrictions, where one side of the street has to have no cars on it from 10 to 2, and the other side of the street doesn't have cars on it another day. I was wondering why that was in place in the wintertime, when there necessarily is never any street sweeping anyway? Is this a money grab for the town of Cicero, if a person accidentally leaves their car on the side of the street when there's supposed to be street sweeping or not? With all the revenue that they are getting from tickets that they write, why aren't some of these streets – particularly...on Austin Boulevard and Cermak [Road] – in such poor condition? Maybe they should drop the street sweeping for when it's more appropriate, like in the spring and the summer and the fall, and maybe once every two weeks instead of every week.

Political criticisms

When a politician claims to be a Republican, you know what they stand for: using the power and authority of the government to impose their will on the citizens, preferential treatment for the wealthy and corporations, repeal or unfunding of social programs that benefit those in need of help, the repeal of environmental, consumer and worker protections, steadfast resistance to any kind of gun control no matter how many children have been slaughtered, the continuation of white privilege, the inequality of women and people of color, a disrespect for the Constitution and consensus governance, mastery of voter suppression, gerrymandering and election fraud, and a disingenuous proclamation of their unreproachable Christian and family values. And they make no secret of these qualities in their rhetoric, behavior and legislation. So when you vote this November, there is no secret as to what you are voting for.